WASHINGTON (AP) – Republican Speaker Mike Johnson the federal government predicted on Monday government shutdown could become the longest in history, saying he “won’t negotiate” with Democrats until they take a break from their politics. health care requests and reopen.
Standing alone at the Capitol on the 13th day of the shutdown, the speaker said he was unaware of the details of the shutdown. thousands of federal workers being fired by the Trump administration. This is a highly unusual mass layoff, widely seen as a way to take advantage of the shutdown to reduce the scope of the government. Vice President JD Vance warned of “painful” cuts to come, even if employee unions file lawsuits.
“We are heading into one of the longest shutdowns in American history,” Johnson of Louisiana said.
With no endgame in sight, the shutdown is expected to continue into the unforeseeable future. The closure interrupted the routine government operationsclosed Smithsonian museums and other monuments cultural institutions and left airports to struggle with flight disruptionsall this injecting more uncertainty into a context already precarious economy.
The house is outside legislative sessionJohnson refusing to call lawmakers back to Washington, while the Senate, closed Monday for the federal holiday, will return to work Tuesday. But senators are stuck in a deadlock of failed votes as Democrats refuse to budge on their health care demands.
Johnson thanked President Donald Trump for ensuring the military is paid this week, which removed a main pressure point this may have pushed the parties to the negotiating table.
At its core, the shutdown is a debate over health care policy – and in particular the Affordable Care Act Subsidies that expire for millions of Americans who rely on government help to buy their own health insurance policies on the Obamacare exchanges. Democrats demand that the subsidies be extended, Republicans say the issue can be resolved later.
With Congress and the White House deadlocked, some are eyeing the end of the month as the next potential deadline to reopen the government.
That’s when open enrollment begins on November 1 for the health program in question, and Americans will face the prospect of skyrocketing insurance premiums. The Kaiser Family Foundation estimated that monthly costs would double if Congress did not renew the grants that expire Dec. 31.
That’s also when civil servants who receive monthly salaries, including thousands of House aides, will be left without a paycheck.
The health care debate has preoccupied Congress since the Affordable Care Act took effect under President Barack Obama in 2010.
The country experienced a 16-day government shutdown during President Obama when Republicans attempted to repeal the 2013 Affordable Care Act.
Trump attempted to “repeal and replace” the law, commonly known as Obamacare, during his first term in 2017 with Republican majorities in the House and Senate. That effort failed when then-Sen. John McCain memorably voted against the plan.
With 24 million people now enrolled in Obamacare, a record, Johnson said Monday that Republicans were unlikely to take that route again, noting that he still suffers from “PTSD” from the botched timing.
“Can we completely repeal and replace Obamacare? Many of us are skeptical about it now because the roots are so deep,” Johnson said.
The Republican president insists his party was willing to discuss health care with Democrats this fall, before the subsidies expire at the end of the year. But first, he said, Democrats must agree to reopen the government.
The longest shutdown, during Trump’s first term, due to his demands for funds to build the US-Mexico border wall, completed in 2019 after 35 days.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration is exercising wide latitude both in firing workers — sparking complaints from fellow Republicans and lawsuits from employee unions — and in determining who gets paid.
This means that not only military troops, but also other priorities of the Trump administration, do not have to go unpaid, thanks to various other funding sources as well as the billions made available in what is commonly referred to as the Trump program. Act on a big and beautiful bill it is now the law.
The Pentagon said this weekend it was able to exploit 8 billion dollars in unused research and development funds to pay military personnel. They had risked missing their pay on Wednesday. But the Department of Education is among those hit hard, disrupting special education, after-school programs and others.
“The administration could also decide to use mandatory funding provided in the Reconciliation Act of 2025 or other sources of mandatory funding to continue activities funded by these direct appropriations in various agencies,” according to the Congressional Budget Office, nonpartisan.
The CBO had cited the Department of Defense, the Department of the Treasury, the Department of Homeland Security and the Office of Management and Budget among those that received specific funds under the law.
“A portion of the funds appropriated directly to DoD under the Reconciliation Act of 2025 could be used to pay active-duty personnel during a shutdown, thereby reducing the number of excluded workers who would receive deferred compensation,” the CBO wrote in a letter responding to questions raised by Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa.
